Help & Advice

Ensuring pet owners receive compassion and understanding

At PCS we support Compassion Understood both as a resource provider for clear, reliable information about our pet's end-of-life and as an essential training partner for the veterinary industry. For pet parents they aim to:

Guide you in planning for this difficult time

Help you make the right decisions

Provide clear and accessible information

Cope with the passing of your beloved pet

The site content has been written by veterinary professionals and pet loss experts, with contributions from many working in the field of pet loss support.

The Blue Cross

It can sometimes help to share your feelings with someone who knows from personal experience how distressing the loss of a pet can be, and who will listen with compassion and without judgement. The Blue Cross charity runs a Pet Bereavement Support Service which can be contacted on 0800 096 6606 (UK only including Northern Ireland). The support line is open from 8.30am - 8.30pm every day. All calls are free and confidential from a UK landline. If calling from a mobile phone, some phone networks may charge. Alternatively you can also email the Pet Bereavement Support Service on pbssmail@bluecross.org.uk.

Cats Protection’s Paws to listen grief support service

If you’re experiencing pet-related grief you can call our free and confidential phone line to talk to one of our volunteer listeners. The team of trained volunteers offer emotional and practical support to owners experiencing the loss of a cat. While they are unable to offer counselling, the team provides a supportive ear to callers struggling to cope with pet-related grief as well as providing information about topics such as euthanasia, burial and cremation.The line is open between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, on Freephone 0800 024 94 94.

Further information about Cats Protection’s grief and loss support work can be found on the national website: www.cats.org.uk/grief

There are many special Pet Loss trained counsellors. You can find some of these on the Ralph site and also within the Counselling Directory. Note that we haven’t ‘vetted’ any of these, and we are not directly endorsing their services. It’s best to carry out further research and if possible speak to them and ask for references before you enter into any counselling agreement.

If you feel that you are not coping with your day-to-day life and feel that you need additional help then we urge you to seek help from your doctor or from the Samaritans who are available around the clock, 365 days a year.